Sword Art Vanguard
by Kaichi98
Summary: Having fallen into another world after entering the virtual reality world, what awaits Kirito and the others after finding out that they've fallen into a completely different world? Will they be able to uncover the mysteries enshrouding the world and help the people in it or will everything fall into a great darkness? Read to find out! Kaichi and KiritoxAsuna
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone! I'm back with a new story! I hope everyone will enjoy this new story and without further ado, let's start!

Normal POV

Aichi and the others were in the space in between Cray and Earth as they were facing Team Dreadnought, with Leon having Void's power aiding him.

" We have to get out of here and think of an alternate plan before Leon does anything." Misaki whispered

" Yeah."

" Let's all go." Ren whispered

" Yeah!"

A scream was suddenly heard from above as they looked up. A black blur fell on top of Aichi after that.

" Ow..."

" That was the worst... Where am I...?"

" Who are you?"

" I should be asking the same thing..."

" How long are you going to sit on me...?"

The boy noticed Aichi below him as he immediately got up while apologising.

" It's okay... I'm just fine..."

" Uh... I do have a question before introducing myself... What's that?"

They turned behind to see black mist starting to attack them as they immediately ran.

" Hey! I'll carry that kid!"

The boy hauled Takuto up his shoulder as they tried to run as fast as possible.

" What's going on here?!"

" We don't understand much either! And you're the one asking us?! You fell from the sky!" Ren exclaimed

" Well... Ah! I had other friends with me! They might be lost in here!"

" We'll find them later! For now, we need to get away from here now!" Kamui exclaimed

" But this is strange... You're not NPCs or players, are you...?"

" Huh?! Don't talk nonsense! This isn't a video game!" Asaka exclaimed

Aichi looked behind and stopped as the others also stopped.

" What's wrong?"

" They're not coming anymore..."

" Weird..."

Aichi suddenly gasped.

" Turn to the left and keep running!"

" Huh?!"

" Hurry up!"

They did as told as the black mist soon shot out from where they were standing at.

" How did you know?!"

" I don't know... It just came to me..."

" But that was close..."

" At this rate, the black mist will consume the entire space if we don't get back to Leon-kun." Ren said

" Well... Then we could follow his trail using Psyqualia, is that right, Takuto-kun?"

" Yes... But we should rest first..."

The build up of black mist started to surround the whole space as Takuto was leaned on a rock to rest.

" We managed to come this far, we can't give up here!"

" I also need some rest..."

" You didn't use your Psyqualia, Ren."

" We did run!" Ren pouted

" Shut up. But where are we?"

" Obviously, we're still in the space in between Cray and Earth. But the where we are and how close we are to Leon is a good question." Misaki said

" Cray and Earth? Wha?! We're not on Earth right now?!"

" Yeah, I thought you knew..."

" Well, this is a little complicated... Oh, sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Kirito. Nice to meet you."

" H-Hello! I'm Aichi Sendou."

" Misaki Tokura."

" I'm the Great Kamui Katsuragi!"

" I'm Ren Suzugamori! And these are my teammates, Asaka Narumi and Toshiki Kai."

" Hello."

" Hmph."

" I'm Christopher Lo."

" Lee Shenlon."

" Ali Pajeel."

" Hey, Kai! Introduce yourself properly!"

" Whatever."

" Anyway... You look very... Uh..." Aichi started muttering, looking at Kirito's outfit

" Oh sorry! T-This is a little complicated! I know this feels a little awkward..."

" Is that why you were talking in video game language?"

" Kind of..."

" But you need to find your friends too, don't you? If you really think you're still in a video game, then don't they have trackers in a friends' list or something?" Kamui ask

" Oh yeah!"

Epic anime fall...

" We'll set out after you try to find them. Anyway, do you still need to tell us anything about Leon-kun or Void, Takuto-kun?" Aichi ask

Takuto nodded.

" It seems that Leon's newfound power has destabilized this space and merged the two worlds of Cray and Earth."

" Hey..." Kamui said when he saw him starting to collapse

" You aren't the one who sealed away Royal Paladin, are you?"

" The thing that captured Royal Paladin and the others, that gave Leon power... Its name is Void. It's a nihilistic power."

" Void... A nihilistic power..."

"It's Cray's greatest enemy. It's said to have no physical form, existing only as a will. And its power is immeasurable. Void is what sealed Aqua Force long, long ago. But none of the clans have ever been able to help Aqua Force. And now Void has sealed away Royal Paladin and two other clans. "

" Is Void more powerful than before?"

" Yes. But so are the clans. The clans have any years of training, so if they join forces, they should be able to save Royal Paladin and the other clans. That's why... I manipulated all of your memories and switched Gold Paladin and Narukami with the clans that were sealed away. You see, a fighter's ability to lead a clan will be necessary for battling Void. "

" Manipulated memories..."

" Fighter's ability...?"

" I gave you new clans, made you compete in the Vanguard Fight Circuit, even encouraged you to level up, all to free Cray." Takuto continued

" You used us... You used us as pawns..." Misaki said

" That's correct... But using all of you has led to this. Now the only thing I can do is put my trust in you. My power has been weakened because of Void. While I still have power, I'll restore all of your memories." his Psyqualia glowed in his eyes and everyone restored all their memories

" I remember. I remember clearly... I remember all my time with Blaster Blade and Royal Paladin!"

" That's right... You originally used Royal Paladin... Brother Aichi."

" I can't believe I'd forgotten all this time..."

They held onto Takuto when they realized that he was falling.

" You must hate me for manipulating your memories and using you as pawns."

" No. Just the opposite: I'm grateful to you." Aichi smiled and said

" Grateful?"

" You gave me a way to help Blaster Blade. And more than anything, you introduced to me Gold Paladin. With them, I'll free Cray and help Blaster Blade!"

" Void... A fearsome power of emptiness... Right now, emptiness has invaded half of Cray's land... No sound can be heard there, no light reaches through... Nothing moves, and everything is enveloped in silence."

" That's Void..."

" The power of emptiness has begun to move from Cray to this space. And when the emptiness has filled this space, It'll be destroyed and the emptiness will move on to Earth!"

" Earth?!"

" The tragedy that once befell the Souryu people will happen to the entire Earth. The land will rot. The seas will dry up. All of Earth's blessings will be lost. All life will be robbed the will to live. Earth will become a planet of death."

" That'll happen to Earth...? We can't let it!"

" What should we do?"

" The only thing you can do to stop Void is to beat Leon Souryu... No one but the Vanguard Fight winners can exist in this space."

" You mean if we win, it'll be possible to send Leon back to Earth?"

" However, it works the opposite way, too. If you lose in a Vanguard Fight, you won't be able to stay in this space either."

" In other words, if we lose, Earth will..."

" Leon Souryu may think he's using Void, but its power is vast. He can't control it completely. And Leon's ambition has made him lose his cool-headed judgement. At this rate, everything will be controlled by Void..."

They carried him to a nearby rock for him to rest...

" If he isn't stopped, both Cray and Earth will come to an end. Quickly, go to him..."

" But how can we find him?"

" Psyqualia... You should be able to sense Leon's Psyqualia..."

" Psyqualia..." Aichi stood up, his eyes glowed and Aichi turned towards Leon's direction... " That way!"

" Go. Cray is in your hands."

" Right! Let's go, everyone!"

" Right!"

" Oh and Aichi-kun... One warning..."

" What is it?"

" Be careful..."

" Huh? Sure..."

Kirito walked back to them after that.

" I managed to contact my friends. They said that they'll try to find me too. So we should be able to keep moving first. Will the kid be alright alone here?"

" Yes, I'll be fine..."

" Alright then. So you guys found a way to locate that Leon guy you were talking about?"

" Yeah. I was right about using Psyqualia to find him at least... Hopefully, we'll make it in time before this black mist blocks our whole vision..."

" Yeah."

" Don't worry. I was surprised when I could use all the skills I had in the game world. So, I have the searching skill and night vision skill. They should be able to help us in this situation... I think."

" Well, we can only depend on the Psyqualia users for now."

" Leave it to us!" Ren said

The three led the way as they tried to speed up to make it in time before Void starts to destroy both Earth and Cray.

* * *

Meanwhile, Leon was alone while Jillian and Sharlene were keeping watch for him.

" So... You're saying that different Psyqualia have different traits to them?"

" Yes. This is why you should obtain all of them, is what I want to say but... You cannot extract the power that easily." A voice bellowed

" I see. So what traits are there?"

" From what I've seen here, you can sense the 'wind', Ren Suzugamori has a good sensory radar which helps him to sense many things, it might be good enough for him to just find us despite the interruption, Christopher Lo has the intellect, in which he had it long ago and as for Aichi Sendou... It's an unbelievable case for him."

" What is it?"

" The power of premonition."

" Premonition?! Of the future?!"

" Yes. He had already seen through all of our attacks on him and his friends by unconsciously activating his Psyqualia for as quick as a split second where it'll be hard for people to see the activation, including himself."

" So that's how they avoided the attack from underground... Because Aichi Sendou saw the future. That means... Did he see this event happening?"

" Hm... I dug through his memories while he was asleep one time before I was forced out by the light coming from his Psyqualia. He remembered his first meeting with Takuto Tatsunagi, saw what Takuto Tatsunagi showed him of me sealing the three clans and even remembering the three clans even though the rest of his friends couldn't. His Psyqualia is a special one indeed. It protected the memories that mattered the most for him. Thus, him showing up here."

" Heh... Interesting. Let's have him here as our special guest, shall we? But first, we need a plan to trick his special ability, even for a split second chance."

" Don't worry about that. I'll be quick. Because I found a quick flaw in his premonitions... They would sometimes be slightly wrong."

With that, the black mist Leon was talking to disappeared as Leon waited.

* * *

Meanwhile, Aichi and the others were still walking towards Leon.

" No good... I can't sense Leon-kun anymore."

" I can't either."

" I can still sense him! I guess I have a better nose than you guys!"

" Ren, this has nothing to do with noses." Kai sighed

" Just keep going. We need to hurry."

" Yes~"

Aichi's Psyqualia activated for a slight second as he gasped.

" Aichi?"

" There's black swords... Coming at us from behind..."

" Huh?!"

Kirito turned behind as he drew his swords. Soon after, as Aichi predicted, swords were coming after them as Kirito smirked.

" Finally, a fight! I don't understand how I got here, but this'll be worthwhile! Everyone, stay behind me!"

Kirito started to spar with the swords as he managed to get them away from the others when they somehow managed to get past him. Using his different sword skills, the swords were destroyed and they disappeared after that as Kirito sighed.

" It should be safe now."

" But Aichi, how did you know?"

" I don't know..."

" It was the same with when we were almost attacked from underground by the black mist."

" I'm not sure either..."

Aichi suddenly felt something stinging his neck as he pulled out what looks like a needle before it disappeared. Aichi suddenly felt faint as his vision blurred. Kai caught him the moment he fell forward as Aichi tried to stay awake.

" Aichi! What's wrong?!"

Aichi's Psyqualia flickered again as Aichi tried to tell Kai something but it was futile because of whatever was inside the needle was forcing him to sleep. In the end, he fainted as Kai tried to shake him awake again.

" Aichi! Come on! Wake up!"

" Seems to me that something like a sleeping needle was shot onto his neck."

" A needle?"

" I managed to see it before it disappeared. At this sort of timing, I have a potion that can make someone forced to sleep, wake up. That is, if I can use it for you people. After all, I seem to have fallen into a real world from a virtual world."

" I'd rather not take the risk. I'll carry him along the way instead."

" If you say so..."

Kirito opened his items window when he spotted something and screamed.

" W-What?!"

" This is... SAO?! The old ALO! and GGO avatar too!"

" Huh?"

Kirito decided to tap on his SAO character as he was immediately changed into it.

" When I look at it this way... It looks more real than just now. Minus the elf ears..." Ren said

" Weird... Why?"

" Anyway, let's move on. We're losing a lot of time."

" Y-Yeah..."

While Kirito continued to ponder, more black mist came forward to attack them as Kirito looked up and quickly started to deflect them again, unaware of one behind Kai. Kai was hit from behind as Aichi was quickly caught by the black mist.

" Aichi!"

Kirito turned behind only to be knocked back by the black mist as it disappeared right after Aichi also disappeared.

" That's their motive, huh?!"

" Kirito-kun!"

Kirito turned his head to see his friends.

" Everyone!"

" So you noticed too? Our old avatars are in our menu."

" Yeah. Is it because we're here?"

" I'm not sure but... This is trouble. Where are we?"

" A real world from what I know."

" Still... The mist around here is really bothering the vision."

" No time to keep talking right now. Their friend is in trouble. We need to find the source of all this power fast."

" Our vision parameter won't go very far with all this mist."

" Over there."

They turned to Ren after that.

" I have a really good nose! Leon-kun's Psyqualia sticks out like a sore thumb!"

" Psyqualia has nothing to do with noses. Anyway, lead us to him. Aichi is probably with him by now. Whatever he's planning, we need to make it in time before it happens."

" Yes~"

They continued to walk while Chris sighed.

" This is my limit. I'm beat from using too much Psyqualia and I still can't sense Leon."

" Ren. I guess it's up to your nose." Kai sighed

" Leave it to me! Still, this mist is getting thicker. Any more and I think I'll be reaching my limit too."

" But you worried us, Kirito-kun. You were the only one separated from us."

" I know... Sorry..."

" But as expected of Papa. You contacted us even though we never thought about it." Yui said

" No... These guys reminded me. Oh yeah! These are the friends I was talking about."

" I'm Asuna."

" I'm Klein."

" I'm Lizbeth, you can call me 'Liz'."

" I-I'm Silica!"

" I'm Leafa. Kirito-kun is my big brother in reality."

" I'm Sinon."

" And I'm Yui."

" Kirito is your big brother?! What a surprise! You two don't look alike at all!" Ren exclaimed

Kai and the others sighed.

" We've discussed this half an hour ago, Ren. They're from a game but fell into our real world for some reason. Did you forget?" Kai ask

" Oh yeah."

Sweat drop...

" Ignore the idiot. Any ideas how you guys fell into this world?" Misaki ask

" Well... There was a gigantic hole and we fell into it... That's all."

" Mysteries later. We're arriving."

" That's fast! Looks like your nose is really working!"

" Leafa... We've already known that noses and the other ability he has is not related..."

" O-Oh..."

They suddenly heard a scream as Kai immediately broke into a run towards it.

" Kai! Wait!"

" We're following him!"

" Yeah!"

They ran after Kai and when they arrived, Aichi was already in his arms.

" Aichi!"

" It's fine. He just fainted."

" Leon! What did you do to Brother?!"

" Nothing. Toshiki Kai foiled it when he arrived."

" No. When I arrived, Aichi already managed to escape. I'm assuming he used his Psyqualia to break free."

Leon's eyes narrowed while the others were distracted.

 _" Not just that... This boy..."_ Leon thought

" I'll try to heal him."

" Like I said, I'm not letting a virtual world thing touching him."

" Don't be such a spoilsport. He'll wake up sooner if she does this." Kirito assured

Kai stayed silent while looking over to the others who either shrugged or nodded.

" ... Fine."

" I sure hope this works..."

Her wand she uses to casts her spells appeared as she chanted her spell and a green light surrounded Aichi. Soon, Aichi opened his eyes as the others sighed in relief.

" It worked!"

" Brother!"

" Ow... My head... What happened?"

" You were captured by Leon!"

" Oh, that's right... But the more important is... Leon-kun. Let's fight. This space is already starting to crumble and Void is making its own advance. Let's settle this fast."

" Fine by me."

The others stepped back while the fight started.

~ After the fight~

Light surrounded all of them as they were transported back to Earth asleep, including Kirito and the others.

* * *

In Kirito's world... All of them woke up at the same time as they saw that it was already morning.

" No way... That was real?"

He soon contacted the others and they agreed to meet up for an offline meeting.

" This isn't a coincidence. We were logged out right after Aichi defeated that Leon guy."

" They didn't have any HP gauge and neither were they NPCs or AIs."

" But if we already logged out, then what about our bodies from the other world?"

" Let's see... If we presume that it was night by the time we defeated Leon and then woke up to the morning here... We're going to see if my theory is true. At night, we'll all full dive again and we'll try to see if we get back to ALO again or we're still in that world."

" Yeah!"

And night fell as they wore their Amusphere and full dived again.

" Link Start!"

* * *

Back in Aichi's world... As expected, Kirito and the others woke up in the unknown world again as they were now inside what seemed to be an infirmary. The door opened as Aichi walked in.

" What a relief! You guys are awake!"

" Hey, Aichi... Where are the others?"

" My team won the VF Circuit and they're now in another room celebrating our victory. I was worried about you guys since you never woke up and came here."

" Is that so? Congratulations."

" Thank you!"

The door opened again as they turned to see Takuto by the entrance.

" Hello."

" Takuto-kun!"

" Congratulations once more, Aichi Sendou. You and your team are really strong."

" Thank you. It was a team effort."

" Um... What happened to the space and that Void thing?"You

" Void retreated right after we defeated Leon-kun. And the space has been restored to normal thanks to that as well."

" I see..."

As if knowing Asuna's worries, Kirito turned to her.

" Asuna. Is something wrong?"

" N-No! It's nothing!"

" Oh, that's right. Aichi-kun, I just talked to your other friends celebrating in the other room. I'll accompany them so don't worry and go back. It's your team's party after all."

" Oh, right! I'll see you guys later then!"

" Yeah!"

As soon as Aichi left and Takuto made sure he was out of listening range before turning back to Kirito and the others.

" I take it you have something to tell us."

" As all of you might know, a select few of us have this power called 'Psyqualia'."

Kirito nodded, " Yeah. I've seen it in action."

" The others' Psyqualia are alright but the one that I'm most concern about is Aichi-kun."

" He can predict the future, right?"

" Future?! Is that even possible?!" Klein exclaimed

" He showed it very clearly in that space. In front of me, that is."

" That's not all. It's evolving. His Psyqualia is still unlocking more powers."

" What do you mean?"

" He can predict the future but now... He's predicting the time proximity of the future."

" Time proximity?"

" How many minutes or hours or days this certain event or any other certain events. He's starting to see through it all. There are slight chances where he is slightly wrong but most of the time, he would be right. In the room they are celebrating in, I discussed with the others about setting up just one fake prank to see how accurate he can be, it happened an hour before you guys woke up."

" So he..."

" Yeah..."

" Is the set up still there?"

" Yes."

" Then let us go there. I want to see for myself."

" Us too."

" Yeah!"

" Very well."

They were led to the room where the party was going on at as they saw Aichi and the others inside.

" Kirito-san! Everyone!"

" Yo. We wanted to congratulate everyone here."

" I see. But you guys should've rested more. You guys seemed tired."

" No, it's fine."

They started chatting and distracting Aichi as Kirito looked for the chance to find the trap and walked over to it, almost pulling the trigger when Aichi turned to him and hurriedly stopped him.

" Kirito-san, be careful. Ren-san made a prank trap here and Kai-kun got hit a little by it. I managed to pull him away before it happened though, so he's fine. I'm glad I stopped you in time. If not, you would've been hit a few seconds later."

" I see. Thanks."

" No, it's nothing. I'm sorry about Ren-san pulling this prank."

" No, it's fine."

Aichi smiled as he started to walk back to the others but tripped over himself by accident.

" I-I'm fine..."

" You're also clumsy like Big Brother." Leafa said

Aichi laughed sheepishly as he got up before going back to the others. Kirito met Takuto outside the room right after that as he leaned on the wall across him.

" He definitely has that power... But the only problem is that he doesn't predict his own accident... Just like back in that space where he was hit by that sleeping needle... Or even when I fell on him..."

" I want to research about something more. Until then... I just have one request."

" If Void really comes back, protect him?"

" Yes. I believe he's linked to why you guys are here as well. It's just my guess but for now, we just need to keep a really close eye on him should his powers develop even more."

" Alright. I'll tell the others."

" Thank you."

Takuto walked away after that as Kirito walked back in and headed beside Asuna.

" You're worried about something again?"

" I want to do something to protect him..."

" Huh?"

" I heard everything. But we can't be here all day and night either..."

" Then what do you suggest?"

Asuna looked around before whispering to Kirito something.

" Ah... I see. That's what's going on..."

" So I was thinking about the quest we did before for Valentine's."

" You really want to give them?"

" Copy some sword skills into it and I'm sure it'll work."

" Alright then."

Asuna walked over to Aichi while Kirito went over to Kai.

" Aichi-kun, could you come with me for a second?"

" Huh? Sure!"

" You too, Kai."

" What for?"

Kirito dragged him by the coat as the two were brought to another room. Asuna nodded to Kirito as he nodded.

" We have a little something for you guys."

Opening their item menu, a rapier appeared in Asuna's hand while a sword appeared in Kirito's hand. After selecting a few things, a scroll appeared and another window appeared and the scrolls were placed into it.

" There. We copied our sword skills into these swords."

" But why?"

" It's for you guys."

" Huh?! No! There's no need!"

" It is needed. It's for you to protect yourself with."

" Kai, protect him properly. I put some of my best skills into this sword so don't waste it."

" But we've never used swords before..."

" Well..."

Suddenly, Aichi's Psyqualia activated as both him and Kai glowed a little before the glow faded. Aichi's Psyqualia deactivated after that.

" What was..." Asuna exclaimed

" Hm? What's with these words and moves in my head?" Kai muttered, holding his head

" Huh? Me too..."

" And... These swords are from a Valentine's event?"

" Is that why the colors are red and white?"

After taking a glance at each other, both blushed and quickly looked away. Asuna regained her composure first as she walked over to Aichi.

" I placed a very special skill from a very special friend that left this to me, to protect myself. Now use it properly to protect yourself. It's called 'Mother's Rosario'."

" No way! I can't possibly..."

" You can do it. I'm sure of it. Yuuki was strong even in real life. I promised her that I would pass on the sword skill to someone one day, so I'll give it to you here, in your world and one day, in our virtual world, there will be someone who will also be given this and continue to pass on this skill to remember her by. So use this to protect yourself."

" Well... Alright then... Thank you very much."

" No problem. We're friends, aren't we?"

" Yeah!"

Kirito pulled Kai down to his level.

" Hold him close. He's important to you, right? Just like Asuna is to me." Kirito whispered

" That explains your rings... And what do you mean by that...?"

" Don't need to lie. It's obvious. You better hurry though."

After he released Kai, Aichi curiously looked over to them as Kai looked away.

" But how are we supposed to hide them?"

Once again, his Psyqualia activated as Kirito quickly opened up his window in secret to record. Two cases appeared as the swords floated into the cases and closed up. The cases then turned into necklaces as they wore themselves onto Aichi and Kai.

" Aichi?"

" Huh? What just happened?"

" You don't remember? You did that by yourself just now!"

" Huh? Really?"

Kirito stopped recording after that as he closed his window and nodded to Asuna.

" Now, let's head back. The others might start wondering where we went."

" Oh, okay..."

As the four made their way back to the party room, Kirito and Asuna's eyes narrowed.

 _" Takuto Tatsunagi might be right... That Psyqualia he has is evolving slowly but surely... What exactly happened back when he was captured? To get that answer..."_ Kirito thought

" We need Leon Souryu to tell us, right?" Asuna whispered as if reading his mind

" Yeah."

" It's too late though. I heard he went back to his island. We don't even know where that is." Asuna continued whispering

" I see... Then until we meet him again, we need to make a quick note of this."

" Yeah."

Will they be able to get back to ALO? And what is Aichi's mysterious connection with his evolving Psyqualia?

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! I made this story after recently watching the movie for SAO. It was a really great movie! I recommend everyone to watch it either in cinemas or once they released the movie DVD! :) Thank you for reading and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello everyone! I'm back with a new chapter! Chapter 2! I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter and without further ado, let's start!

Normal POV

It's been a few days after the VF Circuit as Aichi was now in high school. Kirito and the others were also trying to adapt to the world they were stuck in with either their SAO or GGO avatars to blend in. Klein was staying over at Miwa's house, Kirito, Asuna and Yui were staying in Aichi's house, Silica, Sinon, Leafa and Liz were staying over at Misaki's house above Card Capital until they could get back to ALO.

" I still can't go out?" Leafa whined

" With your ALO character, it's impossible. People will be looking at your ears."

" I know but... I want to explore more!"

" Well... We'll try to find a way for you to get outside, okay? For now, just keep staying in here until we do find a way. It was already hard to trick the Manager or Misaki-san's Uncle, to be exact."

" Yes... Now that I think about it... There's school here, right? Are Onii-chan, Asuna-san and Sinon-san joining in?"

" They said that they'll try to enter the school. Because they need to protect Aichi, even if he doesn't know anything."

" That's right..."

" We were lucky to have enough financial support from Takuto Tatsunagi as thanks for taking up the offer. Otherwise, it'll be very hard to survive in an alternate real world where our current bodies are just virtual reality based."

" You're right. Well, I'll just stay here and do the housework then. Just contact me if you need to."

" Okay!"

" Then, see you later!"

" Yeah!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Aichi was waiting for school to start as he fiddled with the necklace he hid inside his shirt that held the rapier given to him. Soon after, the bell rang as he wore back the necklace and hid it back into his shirt. The Sensei entered as they bowed and greeted him before he started homeroom.

" Uh... We have a new student joining us today. Come in."

Kirito stepped into the class as Aichi almost dropped the pencil he had in his hand after getting a slight shock.

" My name is Kirito. Nice to meet everyone."

" Uh... Kirito-san, please take the seat beside Sendou-san."

" Yes."

Kirito smiled towards the still flustered Aichi while walking towards his seat as Aichi smiled back awkwardly.

" Now, let's start the class."

~ Lunch time~

Aichi took out his lunchbox as Kirito stood up at the same time.

" Where are you going for lunch?"

" Uh... I would usually go to the side of the school. There's a bench over there and it's more quieter..."

" Let's go up to the roof today."

" Huh?"

" Asuna asked you to."

" Y-Yes... Wait a minute... A-Asuna-san's in this school too?!"

" Yeah. Come on, let's go."

" R-Right..."

They headed up to the roof as Kirito spotted the roof of the staircase landing.

" Let's head up."

" B-But how?"

" It's easy. Hold my hand."

Aichi hesitated but did as told as Kirito leaped right after getting a hold of Aichi's hand. Both landed safely at the roof of the staircase landing as Asuna was waiting there.

" I knew you'd be here."

" Yeah. Hurry up and sit down."

" Yeah."

Kirito motioned Aichi to sit down as he nodded and both sat down.

" Oh? Your mother made your lunch?"

" Y-Yes... B-But she'll be out of the house for a few months to visit a relative tonight and Emi will be going to Mai-chan's house to stay over for that period... I'll be alone at home but it's fine! I can still cook, so..."

" Don't worry. Let me handle every lunch. You don't have to stress yourself everyday."

" N-No, it's fine!"

" Don't forget, you helped us by finding us a place to stay. We stay your house anyway. You're not lonely with us around."

" T-Thank you..."

Both smiled as they ate their lunch. Once they finished eating, Kirito rested his head on Asuna's lap and took a quick nap.

" He's quite relaxed..."

" Well, this is how Kirito-kun is."

" I see..."

" You know, Aichi-kun... All of us that fell into this world except for Leafa-chan, we were forced to playing a death game with these avatars you see right now. We couldn't log out and if our HP went down to zero, we die in real life."

" No way... A death game? For how long?"

" We've been trapped for two years inside the game. Kirito-kun cleared the game by defeating the final boss, the commander of my guild... The creator of the game..."

" I see..."

" When we met at the Town of Beginnings for the first time, we partied up together and fought the first level boss. Then we met when I was in the guild and he was a solo player. He was so laid-back and also took a nap on the grassy plains. To me, someone who wants to clear the game fast and get back to the real world, I was irritated and told him off. But then he told me that it was Aincrad's nicest season and that it was a waste of time to be battling inside a dungeon. And then... Without realizing it, I laid down beside him and fell asleep as well. When I woke up after that, he had an exasperated face. But during my times of partying with him, I realized something. He was making the most of his life even in that world. You aren't losing your days in the real world. You're just spending each of them there. The one who taught me that is Kirito-kun. I went to sleep thinking about him, and I stopped having nightmares. I started looking forward to seeing him. It was the first time that I was glad that I went there. Kirito-kun gave me the meaning to the two years I've spent there. He's the proof that I'm alive. The reason I put on the Nevergear that day was to meet him. Aichi, I'm sure you have found something dear to you as well."

" Y-Yes... I..."

" Is it about Kai?"

Aichi blushed lightly as he took out the necklace again.

" I guess Kai-kun helped me in the same way. He gave me strength when I needed it the most. He saved me from despair when I felt like giving up. He's my saviour..."

" How?"

" I met him when I was young and was being bullied a lot. It was in front of the park and he gave me Blaster Blade and asked me to imagine myself as a strong warrior just like him. It helped me a lot when I had many problems and then we met again a few years later, I think that's when I finally fell for him. Thinking about the person who saved me every night saved me from nightmares that haunt me every day. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here now."

" I see."

Aichi nodded as he checked the time.

" Oh. Time's almost up. Let's head back to class."

" Yeah!"

Asuna woke Kirito up as they headed back to their classes.

" That was a good nap." Kirito yawned

" You sure napped a lot."

" Yeah."

On the way, they bumped into Sinon, who looked a little angry.

" What's wrong, Sinon?"

" I've been looking for you guys all over the place! Where were you guys?!"

" On the rooftop. Oh... We were on top of a staircase landing, so it must've been difficult to find us. Sorry! I forgot to tell you where we were too..."

" Whatever. Do that again and I'll shoot a bullet through your skull!" Sinon whispered

" Don't say that, especially here!"

" That's why I'm whispering! Whatever! I'm heading back to class! Aichi, be careful around this guy! He can act weird at one point! See you guys after school!"

" Y-Yes..."

Sinon stormed off after that as Kirito sighed.

" Um, Kirito-san... What did she meant by that?"

" Uh... Well, we had a rough start to our friendship... So, don't ask for too much details..."

" O-Oh... I see..."

Aichi decided that it was best not to ask too much, unless he was too curious to stop himself from knowing, he took the warning a little bit seriously. Once they were back at their seats, they still had a couple more minutes before lunch ended as they decided to chat.

" I'm currently making a program in my world for you and Kai. Yui will help to deliver it over once it's complete."

" A program?"

" Something like our avatars for ALO."

" O-Oh I see... But is it safe?"

" It should be. I'll download it into my Amusphere once it's complete and Yui will give it to you guys."

" Um, Kirito-san... Wings and elf ears are fine but please skip the cat ears and tails..."

" D-Don't worry... It won't happen..."

 _" I guess he's really taking Sinon's warning to heart..."_ Kirito thought

" It should be done in a few more weeks time so Asuna and I will keep you safe until then."

" I'm sorry to bother the both of you like this... Even though I don't really understand what's going on here..."

" Don't worry. Well, we need to find a way to get back to ALO too, so this is a way to pass time here."

" I see..."

The bell rang as they got ready for the next class. And during the next few days, Aichi created a Cardfight club with his friends and they were now preparing for the High School Championship. They headed off to visit Fukuhara as they were allowed in by Tetsu and watched the battle between Leon and Asaka.

" I was wondering when he'll be back..." Kirito muttered

" Since he's back now, we just need to ask our questions, right?" Sinon muttered

" Yeah."

As soon as Leon won his match, he walked up to Aichi and the others.

" Hey, Sendou. Long time no see."

" Leon-kun too."

" The three of you too."

" Heh... Didn't think you'll remember us." Kirito joked

" But I didn't expect to see you here, Sendou. You're not from this school from what I know."

" Oh... We're here to spectate this school's Cardfight club as well."

" I see. Since you guys are here, why don't we have a fight?"

" No, I would like to see how Miyaji High's Cardfight club is faring as well. There's a fighter waiting to challenge you guys as well."

" Oh, alright then."

Leon nodded as he walked past Aichi and the others as he faced Kirito.

" Hey."

" I take it you have questions?"

" Yeah."

" Very well. Let's head upstairs. Jillian, Sharlene. Both of you can stay here."

" Yes."

Leon followed Kirito up to the field after informing Asuna and Sinon as they sat on the grass patch.

" Leon, right? What happened back when you kidnapped Aichi?"

" Long story short, Void tried to take control over him."

" And then?"

" It was too fast to take in but... A bright light surrounded us and he escaped. And then Toshiki Kai showed up to catch him. It's as if he teleported from the binding Void had put around him."

" I see. So the mind control failed?"

" Seems so."

" What do you mean?"

" Void wouldn't leave it at that, I'm sure. He might've done something to Sendou while all of us were unaware, even me."

" That's right. Aichi can't predict his own danger... Who knows what Void might've done to him."

" I heard from Takuto. Protect him while making sure to find a way back to your world. I can sense in the wind that in the future, there's going to be great chaos."

" I'll keep a memo on that."

Leon nodded as they headed back into the Fukuhara Cardfight club to see that the match had ended. Kirito explained to Asuna and Sinon about what was told as they nodded. A few more days passed after the High School Championship as Kirito spotted Aichi checking his phone in the kitchen at night.

" Is something wrong?"

" No... Just that... Kai-kun never contacted me ever since what happened yesterday and he hasn't been to Card Capital too... I know he's not the type to but he was really protective yesterday so I thought that maybe..."

" Why don't you try calling him? You might be thinking too much."

" I think I will..."

Kirito kept a close eye on Aichi while using one of his listening skills to listen in on the call. After a few rings, the call was picked up.

 _" Aichi?"_

" Kai-kun!"

 _" Is something wrong?"_

" No... It's just that I didn't see you today at Card Capital and I was worried after what happened to Naoki-kun yesterday..."

 _" Oh. There's nothing wrong. It's just that I won't be showing up these few days. I have something to settle."_

" Settle?"

 _" Just something. Well, I'll be back in a few days' time so once that happens, I want to fight you again."_

" Y-Yes! I would be glad to!"

 _" I'll see you then."_

" Yeah!"

Aichi hung the call up as Kirito sighed and grabbed a cup of water to drink.

" Is Kai alright?"

" Yes! He just said that he'd something to settle but he didn't tell me what. I'm sure he's training somewhere, that's why he's going to be busy."

" I see. Then I'll call it a night and log out with Asuna now. Will you be alright alone?"

" Yes. I'll see you guys tomorrow morning."

" Yeah."

Kirito headed back up to the room he shared with Asuna as he spotted her sitting on their bed.

" How is it?"

" He was downstairs worried about Kai. Doesn't seem to be anything wrong with the phone conversation either, so I don't see any problems of logging out right now."

" I see. Then I'll see you at the offline meeting today."

" Yeah."

" Goodnight."

" Goodnight."

Both laid down on their bed and logged out as they were back in their world. Meanwhile, Aichi was getting ready to sleep when the doorbell rang. He went to the front door from the living room as he opened the door.

" Yes?"

But the outside was empty as he looked around a little longer before closing the door but before he could turn back into the house, a cloth was pressed onto his nose as he struggled as a sweet scent went up his nose and he started to feel sleepy.

" Don't worry. I won't do anything today. It's not time yet. Just a little delivery."

Through his blurry vision, he could see that the figure was holding something else in his hand as it was placed on his forehead before he was let go. The figure gently laid him down on the floor as Aichi could make up a little of who it was.

" K... ai..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he fell asleep as the figure, recognised as Kai, kissed his cheek.

" Goodnight."

With that, he left the house while locking it behind him and went on his mission.

~ The next morning~

Kirito and Asuna were back again as they went to check on Aichi's room.

" Aichi? It's almost time for school."

" Huh? He's not here."

" I don't hear the shower either..."

" Huh? Did he leave the living room lights on by accident?"

Kirito's eyes widened as he quickly went down the stairs with Asuna following behind him to see the unconscious Aichi still by the front door but there was nothing on his forehead.

" Aichi!"

" Aichi-kun!"

They ran towards him as Kirito tried to shake him awake.

" What happened?"

" Yui!"

Yui flew out of his pocket.

" Yes, Papa?"

" Did anything happened after we logged out?"

" No... I didn't hear anything and I also went to sleep soon after as well."

" Then why?"

Aichi groaned as he opened his eyes.

" Kirito-san? Asuna-san?"

" What a relief! You're alright!"

" What happened to me...?"

" Do you remember anything that happened last night? After me and Asuna logged out?"

" Huh? Strangely, I don't remember anything about last night... My head hurts just trying to remember..."

" Yui. Check the cameras I set up around the house and tell me anything that you found suspicious."

" Yes, Papa!"

Yui flew off after that as Kirito carried Aichi back up to his room.

" I think you should rest for today. Don't go to school today."

" But the club..."

" Don't worry, we can handle that. I'll also keep a record on what we studied for you to keep up."

" I'll call Liz and the others to come over for today to take care of you while we're in school."

" Okay... Thank you..."

" Don't worry about it. Now, you should sleep."

" Yes..."

Aichi soon fell asleep as Asuna contacted their other friends. Once she was done, they headed downstairs as Yui flew over to them.

" Papa, Mama!"

" Yui, how was it?"

" I definitely found something odd. I just sent the records into your Amusphere memory, you should be able to view it soon once it's completely downloaded, Papa."

" Right, thanks. How long will it take?"

" Uh... Around until your lunch break."

" I see. Thank you, Yui. Take care of him until Liz and the others come. Inform us if anything happens."

" Yes! Leave it to me!"

Kirito nodded as he and Asuna changed into their school uniforms, ate their breakfast and headed off to Miyaji High. Yui turned into her human form and went to get a cloth and a pail of water after that. She went into Aichi's room and wringed the cloth dry and laid it carefully on his forehead before heading back downstairs to wait for Liz and the others. Unknown to her, Aichi's finger twitched as a faint dark aura surrounded him before it disappeared awhile later.

* * *

Meanwhile, at school a few hours later... Naoki approached Kirito's table.

" Yo, Kirito. I heard Aichi reported sick today. Did something happen?"

" Yeah. He had a slight fever. I think he overworked himself and got tired. We found him by the door today and he said that his memory was fuzzy and he might have fainted yesterday night."

" I see... We can't really have a serious club meeting without the leader... Then, let's head to Card Capital for today."

" Sorry, I think we'll pass on that, including today's lunch. Asuna and I want to be alone for a bit. If you want, Sinon can take over."

" I see. That's too bad. Then we'll be at the usual spot if you need to see us."

" Got it."

Kirito headed up to the roof as he went to the same staircase landing rooftop and sat beside Asuna. Both ate their lunch quickly as Kirito got a notice of the video feed from the cameras he set up.

" Alright. This should do. Let's see..."

Opening one of the video feed, it showed the front door opening just a few minutes after they logged out and Aichi looking outside to check. Kirito switched the camera angle to the inside of the house as Aichi shut the door and something appeared behind him.

" That's... The mantle for Death Gun! That invisibility mantle!"

" Huh?! But Death Gun is..."

" Yeah... Then who is that?"

" Look, Kirito-kun. He seems to be holding something in his right hand."

" I can't see clearly what it is but... He seems to have placed it on Aichi's forehead."

" But there was nothing on his forehead when we checked on him."

" It's invisible too, huh... We should be able to find it if we touch his forehead."

" Kirito-kun. Aichi-kun said something. Look. You think we could figure out by his mouth's movement?"

" No, it's impossible considering that he was whispering it out. The movements are too little to know."

" I see..."

" Anyway, it's a problem... How did the mantle for Death Gun in GGO end up here?"

" Maybe the same way we ended up here?"

" Could be. But Takuto said that Aichi-kun might be connected to why we're here, right?"

" Yeah..."

Kirito pondered for a few seconds before standing up.

" Let's keep watch on Aichi and find out whoever put that thing on his head."

" But we need to find it first, right?"

" Yeah."

Kirito opened his menu and searched for Liz's name as she quickly answered the video call.

" What is it?"

" How's Aichi doing?"

" Just fine. He just had lunch and went back to sleep."

" Did you find anything when you guys touched his forehead?"

" Well, Klein was checking his temperature just now... But I didn't see anything out of the ordinary on his forehead when he did that."

" I see. Let's push forward today's offline meeting. I have something urgent to show you guys."

" Sure."

After school, Kirito and Asuna headed back to Aichi's house while thanking Liz and the others. Asuna made their dinner while Kirito continued to take care of Aichi. He touched his forehead slightly.

" There's really nothing there... Then why...?" Kirito muttered

Asuna opened the door at that time to give them their dinner.

" How is it?"

" I didn't find anything either. It's weird..."

" Yeah. After this, we'll log out for the night."

" Yeah."

They finished eating their dinner and checked on Aichi one last time before going back to their room to log out.

" Yui, for now, watch over Aichi to see if anything strange happens to him. If there really is anything that happened to him, inform us immediately."

" Yes, Papa! Good night, Papa, Mama!"

" Good night, Yui-chan."

" Good night."

And they logged out after that. Yui went to check on Aichi as told as the night passed quickly. Once morning came, Kirito and Asuna came down to the kitchen to see that Aichi had finished making breakfast.

" Good morning, Kirito-san, Asuna-san."

" Good morning, Aichi-kun."

" Good morning. You seem better today."

" Yes. It's thanks to everyone yesterday. Sorry for bothering you guys yesterday."

" It's fine. We're all friends, right?"

" Thank you very much. Now, sit down and eat breakfast. We can head to school after that."

" Yeah."

They ate their breakfast, changed to their school uniforms and headed to Miyaji High together.

" Thank you, Kirito-san. I saw the recordings for the classes you took on the table this morning. Thanks to that, I was able to note down everything before making breakfast."

" What time did you wake up today?"

" About 6am... Well, I rested up a lot yesterday so I was active this morning."

" I see. That's good to hear."

They arrived at the gate to see Sinon there as she waved to them.

" Yo, Sinon. You're early today."

" Yeah. I suddenly felt like coming early today. Let's head inside."

" Yeah!"

Sinon went nearer to Asuna while making sure Aichi was distracted with talking to Kirito as she started whispering to her.

" There's someone watching us."

" Huh?"

" From one of the rooms, they're watching us from the windows."

" Who could that be?"

" I tried to find them with my searching skill but all I could see were shadows. But there's about three people."

" We better be careful."

" Yeah."

They broke their conversation the moment Aichi turned to them, pretending that nothing was going on. After that, they separated to their respective classrooms as Kirito and Aichi sat down.

" Aichi!"

Naoki and Shingo were walking towards them as Aichi smiled.

" Naoki-kun, Shingo-kun! Good morning!"

" Good morning! How are you feeling?"

" I'm better now. Kirito-san and Asuna-san helped to take care of me last night. They helped a lot."

" I see. That's a relief."

" Yeah!"

Aichi's Psyqualia suddenly flickered as he looked around before looking over to Kirito.

" Um, Kirito-san... What's a Scavenged Toad?"

" H-Huh? Why are you asking that...?"

" Well, in five seconds, I think..."

The door suddenly burst opened as a bunch of familiar giant toads jumped in.

" T-There's really Scavenged Toads..."

" What's that?!"

" I have no other choice, do I...?" Kirito sighed

He revealed his menu screen and equipped his two swords.

" Everyone, get back!"

He drew his two swords as he started attacking the toads.

" Um... Aichi? Explain?"

" Uh... Well, let's leave him be for now... He likes to fight after all..."

" So you knew?!"

" Somewhat..."

After it was over, Kirito came back with a satisfied grin.

" Whew! That was a great fight in awhile! If only I could equip my armour in time though... But it's weird... I got some drops too..."

" Huh? Really? Anything good came out?"

" Yeah!"

He took out one of the dropped items as Aichi squeaked while the rest of their classmates backed away.

" W-W-What's that?!"

" Scavenged toad meat. Asuna outright refused to make something with this last time. Hey, Aichi. Do me a favour and make something with this."

" I-I don't think I want to..."

" Huh?! It's good meat! Hey, Aichi! Just this once!"

Aichi squeaked again once Kirito brought it closer as his reflexes took over and he threw it out of the window.

" W-What are you doing?!"

" L-Like I said! I won't do it!"

" Then..." Kirito took out more toad meat, " How about this?!"

" No! No! No! No! No!" Aichi exclaimed, throwing all the meat out of the window as each disappeared one by one

" Come on! Stop throwing it! It's good meat!"

" No way!"

" Why?!"

" I'm not going to cook something like that!"

" The weirder it looks, the better it tastes!"

" Um... Both of you..."

They turned to Naoki after that.

" We have a lot to explain, right?"

" Y-Yes..."

Aichi suddenly spotted something outside the window as he gasped.

" Kamui-kun?!"

" Huh?!"

Aichi quickly ran down as Kirito checked it for himself. He ran down as well after seeing Kamui on the field.

" Kamui!"

He saw the red aura engulfing Kamui as he distanced Aichi away from him.

" It's dangerous, stay away!"

" But Kamui-kun is..."

A portal opened in front of them as something else emerged from it.

" No way..."

" Kirito-kun!"

Asuna ran towards them as she gasped.

" It's... The Gleam Eyes?!"

" Why... is an SAO Boss Monster here?!"

" We scanned your memories."

They turned in front to see the Reversed Maki, Kourin and Miwa.

" Kourin-san...?"

" Miwa?!"

" What do you mean you scanned our memories?!"

" Your character is just data. So it was easy to connect to the main system that connects to your brain in your world. Through there, we saw the various memories of these 'monsters'."

" No way... Is that even possible?!"

" Kirito-kun! Right now, we have to take out Gleam Eyes before he wrecks havoc here!"

" Yeah!"

" Everyone!"

Naoki and Shingo ran towards them as Kirito handed Aichi over to them.

" Take care of him."

They equipped their armor as they got ready to fight. Kirito spotted Sinon in her sniper position with Hecate II on a rooftop as she gave the ready sign. Kirito nodded.

" Ready, Asuna?"

" Yeah!"

" If possible, we'll hold it out until our other friends come."

" Got it!"

Both charged at Gleam Eyes while constantly switching as the others watched on. Soon, Gleam Eyes was overpowering them as Sinon was finally knocked off from the rooftop.

" Sinon!"

" Kirito-kun, look out! It's breath attack!"

Kirito dodged the breath attack, only to be hit by one of its claws. Asuna was punched away as she noticed their HPs lowering.

" Kirito-kun...!"

" I can still go on...!"

Gleam Eyes loomed over them as it prepared another attack. Aichi gasped.

" S-Stop it..."

" Aichi?"

" Don't..."

He reached for something on his waist as the case containing his rapier opened up and appeared on his waist as he drew it out and ran towards them.

" NO!"

" Aichi!"

His sword glowed as Gleam Eyes looked up at him while Aichi landed a familiar five consecutive stabs to its chest as it was backed away by the explosion from the last stab.

" Mother's Rosario! He mastered it in one try!" Asuna exclaimed

" Sorry, Aichi! Buy us some time! We'll be done in 10 seconds!"

" Yes!"

All three used their potions as Asuna took the chance to switch to her New ALO Undine form, Kirito and Sinon also switched the their New ALO forms.

" Alright! Switch!"

Having been watching them fight, Aichi immediately jumped back as Kirito and Asuna charged in. Aichi caught his breath after resting for a bit before going back to fighting.

" Aichi-san!"

Yui flew over to them after that with an orb in her hand.

" Use this!"

The orb glowed as Aichi's form changed to something similar to Asuna's.

" Papa created this Undine avatar and equipped it with some of the best armors! With this, you should be able to fight more easily!"

" I do feel a little lighter... Alright!"

" No, Aichi! Stay back! It's too dangerous! We know its fighting pattern better! If you want, provide support!"

Aichi spotted their HPs lowering.

" So I can see what they see now..."

" Yes. It's as if you're full diving as well."

" Yui-chan. Teach me the healing magic."

" Yes!"

It took a few seconds for Aichi to listen and figure out the magic as he chanted it and their HPs went back up.

" Alright! Just a little more! Everyone, use every Sword Skill you know!"

" Yeah!"

The three attacked Gleam Eyes relentlessly as it finally disappeared. Kirito and the others sat down on the floor panting as Aichi went back to normal and he went to check on them.

" Is everyone alright...?"

" Yeah... Somehow..."

" What a relief..."

Aichi also fell to the floor panting as Yui retrieved the orb that fell to the ground.

" Thank you, Yui-chan... You made it in time..."

" You should thank Papa. He downloaded the program before logging in and we were able to make it in time."

" I guess so..."

Aichi looked over to Maki and the others as he saw Kamui beside them, also Reversed. The group split as a figure walked in front. Their eyes widened.

" No way..."

" Kai...?"

" Why, Kai-kun...?"

" Well, simply put, it's for power."

" Huh?"

" You lied that you were going away for a few days..."

" Well, what better way to keep Reversing other people in the airport and make them do my work of Reversing other people overseas?"

" Reverse?"

" Well, it'll be explained soon. After... The real show starts."

Suddenly, a rapier was stabbed through Kirito's back as the others gasped.

" PAPA!"

" KIRITO-KUN!"

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter! Thank you for reading?


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everyone! I'm back with a new chapter! Chapter 3! I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter and without further ado, let's start!

Normal POV

Everyone stared in disbelief as Aichi removed the rapier from Kirito and he fell to the ground.

" Too bad. Looks like you failed to fully lower his HP to zero. Try again." Kai chuckled

Aichi raised his rapier again as Naoki and Shingo quickly grabbed him.

" Aichi, what are you doing?! Are you crazy?!"

" Kirito-kun!"

Asuna ran towards him as Kirito got up.

" Kirito-kun!"

" I'm fine... I just need the potion..."

" But your HP bar is red!"

" I'm really fine... More than that, Aichi..."

They looked up and saw a metal headpiece with a black jewel at the center appearing.

" So that's it..."

" Then that's what's controlling him?"

" Might be... We just need to remove it..."

" Sinon-san! Fire an arrow with enough force to destroy the jewel on the crown!"

Sinon nodded and loaded her arrow. She fired it as it surrounded with fire but just before the arrow could make contact with the jewel, it got deflected.

" No way!"

" You think we wouldn't take precautions for that?"

" You little...!" Naoki growled

" Aichi, hurry up and come here."

Aichi's Psyqualia flickered again as a bright light shone around and he disappeared.

" He disappeared?!"

" No, this is teleportation...!"

" Then..."

" No choice... Sinon! Fire an arrow in Kai's direction!"

" Got it!"

She fired another arrow as a barrier blocked Kai this time and Aichi appeared.

" That jewel is bringing out more powers...! We have to hurry and get him back...!"

" Asuna!"

They turned to see Misaki running out of the school.

" Misaki-san?! Is everyone in the class alright?!"

" Yeah. I saw what happened and came out here after double checking their safety. But that's not why I came out! That power is not just teleportation! If it was, he would've appeared before Sinon even fired the arrow!"

" Then... Invisibility?!"

" Probably, but I can't be sure. Aichi's power is still slowly evolving. At this pace, that black jewel will drag more out. We have to hurry before it gets out of hand."

" But how?"

Kirito managed to recover his HP during the conversation as he stood up to think.

" Yui! You have his full dive program, right?!"

" Yes!"

" Give it to him!"

" Huh?!"

" But Kirito-kun..."

" Maybe... Maybe we still have a chance... That jewel might only be controlling his real body but if we drag his consciousness into the full dive program for his avatar, he might just snap out of it."

" Are you sure?"

" I'm not 100% sure but there's only this left."

" Alright. Yui-chan! Do it!"

" Yes!"

Yui quickly flew over to Aichi while avoiding Kai and the others as she used the orb on Aichi again. Aichi's eyes slowly opened as he looked around.

" This is..."

" It worked!"

" What?!"

" What was I doing...?"

Aichi turned behind as he gasped when he saw Kai.

" Kai-kun?!"

" Aichi, hurry up and get back here!"

" Y-Yes!"

Aichi ran past the Reversed fighters when another portal appeared and another monster came out.

" Skull Reaper?!"

" No way!"

" You really think I'll let you get away that easily?" Kai chuckled

" We'll leave Aichi to you. We'll deal with the other fighters."

" Do whatever you want. I just want Aichi."

" Hmph! You should be glad to be able to fight him!" Kamui scoffed

They dispersed to battle Naoki and the others as Kirito and the others got ready to fight again.

" Sinon, this one is fast so get as far away as possible before shooting!"

" Yeah!"

" I'll support everyone!" Aichi shouted

He was about to try to run past the Skull Reaper when Kai grabbed his arm.

" You're not going anywhere."

" Let me go!"

" Aichi!"

Kirito was able to barely dodge Skull Reaper's attack after trying to help Aichi.

" Seems like if I lower your current HP bar, you'll go back to normal."

" Go back to normal?!"

" That's right. This current form is just a layer on your real body. Even if it's a virtual one currently. And that is very convenient. All you need to do is stay still and just feel a bit of pain."

" No! If his HP goes down to 0, he'll die in reality!" Yui warned

Aichi looked over to her as she signalled that it was false and Aichi nodded.

" Oh? Is that so? Then that's too bad."

Kai let his hand go as Aichi cautiously ran away from him.

" This Skull Reaper is huge. Yui-chan, any read on his movements?"

" Its weak point is the back. It doesn't have that far a reach to its top, so it should be possible to do huge damage there."

" But it's too high..."

" Don't worry. All ALO avatars have wings."

Aichi managed to get his wings out as he looked at it.

" How do I use this?"

" Well, for starters, there's a support controller. Just grab it with your left hand."

Aichi did as told as the controller appeared.

" Pull it towards yourself to fly upwards."

" L-Like this...?" Aichi ask as he pulled a bit too much

He was shot up into the sky as he screamed.

" A-Aichi!"

" K-Kirito-kun, handle it for a few seconds!"

Asuna flew up after Aichi.

" A-Asuna?!"

Asuna reached high above the clouds as she looked around.

" Aichi-kun!"

" Help!"

She finally found him going around in circles as she quickly went to stop him. Aichi heaved a sigh of relief as Asuna quickly taught him how to use the wings without the controller. Aichi nodded after understanding and the two flew down to help Kirito.

" Kirito-kun!"

" That wasn't a few seconds!"

" I'm sorry!"

" Look out!"

They dodged the attacks from the Skull Reaper as Aichi quickly flew onto the back of it and started using some of his sword skills.

" It's working! Let's keep going! Use all of your sword skills!"

" Yeah!"

All four attacked together as Skull Reaper disappeared after that.

" We did it!" Asuna exclaimed

" That was tiring..."

" That was fun... But let's not do that too often..." Aichi said

" Agreed..."

But just as they said that, more monsters popped up as they got up.

" This is the worst...!"

Suddenly, blasts came from above and destroyed the monsters as they looked up to see Leafa and the other flying towards them.

" Onii-chan!"

" Took you guys long enough!"

" Sorry! It took us a little longer to find here after people started acting weird."

Sinon walked back to them as they saw Kamui and Maki being unReversed. Miwa and Kourin had went back to Kai.

" Seems like we underestimated the lot. Let's retreat for today."

" Hmph."

The three left after that as they heaved a sigh of relief.

" Oh! Aichi, that avatar suits you!" Klein said

" Thank you very much. But... I'm still not used to this light feeling..."

" You'll get used to it soon."

" I guess so."

" Is everyone alright?!" Liz ask

" The students in the school are just fine!" Misaki replied

" What a relief!"

" Aichi, for now, don't log out from this avatar."

" Huh?"

" We'll explain everything once we head to the clubroom. But first, we need to communicate to the whole school. Just in case the monsters pop up again, we need them to stay here. Until this mess is settled, we need to keep them safe."

" Okay."

" Uh... The only way to do that is from the Student Council Room..."

" Leave them to me." Asuna said

" Don't go berserk."

" I won't!"

" Berserk?" Aichi ask

" She's nicknamed the Berserk Healer in our ALO world."

" Why?"

" Well, to sum it up, she goes on a rampage sometimes."

" Kirito-kun... You're cruel for saying that!"

And before he knew it... He was attacked by an angry Asuna as she left soon after giving Kirito a beat up.

" See...? You see why she's called berserk..."

" Y-Yeah..."

They headed towards their clubroom after hearing the announcement made as they sat down to explain their situation.

" I'm sorry! I didn't know I was being controlled!" Aichi exclaimed, bowing in apology

" It's fine. Besides, we knew. Your real body is still being manipulated so we took a risk to change you into this avatar. Luckily, it worked so don't worry about it."

" I'm really sorry..."

" It's fine, really."

" But this is a problem... If Aichi doesn't get back to his real body soon, he'll end up like us when we were stuck in SAO."

" That's true... But if that crown hasn't activate for so long until Kai showed up then... Let's try it once. Log out of this avatar."

" Huh?!"

" B-But..."

" Don't worry. Yui will hold onto the program just in case you go berserk again. So try it just this once."

" T-Then I'll try it..."

Aichi opened his menu screen as he logged out. The others waited as Aichi fully turned back to normal as he slowly opened his eyes. He looked around and at himself.

" I'm okay..."

" I knew it... Unless Kai commands you, the crown won't activate."

" I see..."

Aichi tried to remove the crown but it wouldn't budge.

" It won't come off..."

" So it's the same as being unable to destroy that jewel..."

 _" How naive."_

Aichi gasped after hearing the voice. He clenched his head after that.

" Aichi?!"

 _" Did they really think I'll leave so easily? Now, Aichi... Hurry up and come to me."_

" N-No!"

" Yui! The program!"

" Yes, Papa!"

Yui was about to activate the program when red mist surrounded Aichi and threw her back.

" Yui!"

 _" I won't let that happen again. Now, Aichi... Come."_

" N-No..."

Aichi started to fade away.

" Onii-chan!"

Kirito turned back to them after retrieving Yui as he gasped.

" No! Don't let him disappear!"

" Aichi!"

 _" E-Everyone..."_ Aichi thought

As soon as Kirito was about to touch him, he disappeared. Outside the gate, Aichi appeared in the back seat of a car, unconscious, as Kai smirked.

" We can go now."

The secretary nodded as the car started up and drove off. When the car arrived at the building, Kai carried Aichi out of the car as many Reversed fighters bowed as Kai rode the lift.

" You're popular, Aichi. Well, that's expected. After all, you'll be ruling Link Joker soon and I'll be by your side at all times."

The lift arrived at a floor as Kai walked towards a room and opened the door. Inside was a room with a bed, table, chairs, a royal sofa and bathroom. Kai laid Aichi down on the bed as he caressed his cheek.

" Aichi. Open your eyes."

Aichi groaned as his eyes opened but they had no light in them.

" Now Aichi, take it all off."

As if understanding what Kai meant, Aichi started to take his clothes off but then Kai stopped him when he was about to remove his underwear.

" It'll be fine till here. Lie down again."

Aichi laid down on the bed as shackles with the chain wrapped around the bed frame appeared and Kai shackled Aichi's wrists up.

" That's a good boy. Now, awaken."

Light suddenly returned into his eyes as Aichi's eyes widened.

" W-What?! What is this?!"

Aichi struggled as Kai placed his hand on his cheek.

" Exactly what you see here. I thought that we should have fun together. It's more fun to see your expressions."

" S-Stop it!"

" No, I won't. There's still some time before preparations are complete. Now, Aichi..."

Kai pulled down his underwear as Aichi continued to struggle.

" Let's begin."

" NO!"

Two hours later, Aichi was panting as Kai wore his clothes on. Once he was done, he wore Aichi's clothes back on before answering a phone call while caressing Aichi's cheek.

" Hello?"

 _" I see that you've finally ended your fun. Bring him over."_ It was Reversed Takuto

" Yes, yes. Don't need to be so impatient. I'm coming over now."

He put down the call as the shackles were released. Kai carried Aichi while feeling him wincing as he chuckled.

" Sorry, was I too rough? Then just rest."

" Why are you doing this...? The normal Kai-kun won't seek for power..."

" That me is already gone. I'm a better version of that. I won't let you go again."

" You're wrong... I know the Kai-kun I know is not gone yet..."

" That's where you're wrong."

" Please... Don't do this... You can still turn back..."

" And go back to being my weaker self? I'll say no."

They arrived at the room as the door opened and Reversed Takuto was there.

" You didn't put him under mind control?"

" He's far too weak to resist. There's no need for the control."

" Do whatever you like."

Kai sat Aichi down on a throne with a similar black crystal on the top.

" What are you going to do to me...?"

" Just a little test drive."

The crystal on the throne glowed as Aichi's crown reacted. Aichi held in screams as the glowing stopped. Aichi panted as Kai carried him again.

" That's some strong imaginative powers. It's more powerful than I'd imagined. I'll need to keep looking into this."

" Didn't you find a book related to this already? What more do you want to research on?"

" Yes but there's many things that still remains a mystery. For now, let him rest. I still need him to give me a few more information after that."

" Alright."

Kai carried Aichi out again as Aichi's Psyqualia activated.

" Please, Kai-kun... Go back to normal..."

" I won't repeat myself again, Aichi. It's no use."

" Please..."

They arrived back in the room as Kai laid Aichi back down on the bed when Aichi suddenly used his remaining strength to lunge forward and kiss Kai on his lips. Kai's eyes widened as Aichi released the kiss and fainted.

" What was-!"

A sudden surge of pain hit Kai as he winced while holding his head in pain.

 _" Toshiki Kai. Are you going to betray your one and only loved one, the only one you have left to call that title? Are you going to betray everything that both of you have attained up until now? Release yourself from this false power and find your own true power."_

" My own... true power...?"

 _" Believe these words or the consequences of using this false power will become dire. Now, which will you choose? Drown yourself deeper into this false power or rise up on your feet once more and protect the one you hold dear?"_

" I... I..."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kirito and the others were still frustrated over what had happened as Kirito hit the table.

" Damn it! And we took so many steps so carefully! Why did this happen?!"

" So the crystal on that crown is what connects Kai's voice to controlling Aichi... But I wonder who's the mastermind behind this...?"

" If we can figure that out, then everything will be clearer."

There was a sudden ground tremor as they looked outside to see more monsters popping out.

" All of them are weak monsters from different dungeons! But why are they here?!" Leafa exclaimed

" Let's go clear them out first! We need to make sure the safety of the school! Split up and eliminate any strays that entered the school!"

" Yeah!"

" You guys stay here!"

" Y-Yeah!"

Kirito and the others spread themselves around the school and eliminated all the monsters as they gathered at the front gate.

" Look!"

There was a figure in a black mantle staggering towards them as it suddenly collapsed.

" Hey!"

Kirito ran towards the figure as he removed the hood and gasped.

" Kai?!"

" What?!"

The others ran towards them as they saw an unconscious Kai under the hood.

" What's he doing here?!"

" Onii-chan! Look!"

Kirito lifted up the hood a little more as he saw someone else and removed the mantle. They gasped as they saw Aichi still unconscious in Kai's arms.

" He brought him back?"

" What's going on here?!"

" Bring them in for now!"

" Right!"

Klein slung Kai on his shoulder while Kirito slung Aichi on his shoulder as Asuna picked up something that was on the ground.

" A book?"

She opened the book and read the contents before gasping.

" This is..."

They ran back to the clubroom and laid both Aichi and Kai on the floor as Sinon inspected the mantle.

" This mantle is... No doubt about it. It's Death Gun's."

" That same mantle, huh..."

" Did they escape?"

" Maybe. The crown isn't there anymore. Although, we can't be certain."

" Yeah."

Kai groaned as he suddenly opened his eyes and shot up. He held his head in pain again as he winced for awhile.

" Kai?"

Kai opened his eyes again after the pain subsided as he sighed in relief after realising he was in the school.

" Aichi... Where's Aichi...?"

" Beside you."

Kai turned to his side and saw Aichi before sighing in relief again.

" What happened to the both of you?"

" I..."

 _~ Flashback start~_

 _After Kai recovered from the splitting pain in his head and the voice had disappeared, he staggered a little after standing before walking over to Aichi._

 _" Aichi... Wait for me... I'll get you out of here soon..."_

 _He walked out of the room as he headed back to where Reversed Takuto was to see him analysing something on his screens. Mustering as much strength as he can to act normal, he slowly made his way to Reversed Takuto._

 _" Takuto."_

 _" What is it? I'm busy here."_

 _" I want to see the book. There's something about it that I can't put my finger on. I want to look into it."_

 _" And it's important?"_

 _" Yeah."_

 _" Fine then."_

 _A book came out from one of the glass and flew onto Kai's hand as he exited the room. The moment the door closed, Kai leaned on the wall for support._

 _' Damn it... The drain that came from the pain still haven't left my body yet... I'm getting tired... No... For Aichi's sake, I have to keep moving...!' Kai thought_

 _Kai started to move again as he made his way back to the room. He walked over to Aichi again and removed the headpiece before discarding it to the side._

 _" We're getting out of here... Don't worry, Aichi..."_

 _He grabbed the black mantle and carried Aichi on his back while carrying the book. He carefully wore the mantle around the both of them as he closed his eyes while letting the Reverse aura around him leave his body. The mantle became invisible along with them as Kai made his way back to Miyaji High. Once he was arriving, he felt weaker as he slid Aichi off his back to carry him in his arms and arrived at the front gate where the invisibility wore off and Kirito and the others arrived just as he blacked out._

 _~ Flashback end~_

" A voice spoke to you?"

" Yeah... I don't know why... Right after the voice started talking, my head started to hurt really badly..."

" What did it say?"

" It said something about finding my true power by saving and protecting Aichi... I think the voice came after Aichi did something to me when his Psyqualia activated again..."

" His Psyqualia activated?!"

" Yeah... I think I did see it..."

" What did he do after it activated?"

" Uh..."

Kai went silent after remembering the kiss as he blushed slightly pink while turning his head away. Kirito took some time to process before coming to a conclusion.

" Oh... Now then, since both of you are back, we have nothing to worry about for now."

" Kai, you brought this book with you, right?"

" Yeah..."

" What's that book, Asuna?"

" It's a book about Cray. Mostly its history but there's something that catches my attention."

" Wait, wait, wait! Then Planet Cray really exists?!" Naoki exclaimed

" Yeah."

" Wow..."

" So what caught your attention?"

" This. It's about Psyqualia."

" Psyqualia?!"

" It's basically what Takuto told us back at the space between Cray and Earth. But there's this Psyqualia that exists as well... But it's supposingly an ancient one that never came out for a few hundred years now. It matches Aichi-kun's Psyqualia perfectly and it doesn't stop there."

" An ancient Psyqualia?"

" But it hasn't shown up for a few hundred years, so why now?"

" Because it senses whether a future great chaos will happen and finds a suitable user to possess its strength. That's the premonition but more stronger than the one Aichi keeps having."

" When Psyqualia was first given to Aichi, it was almost two years ago if I wasn't wrong. So he's had this for two years and the Psyqualia already foresaw the danger?" Misaki ask

" Maybe even more in the far future. But this is one of them for sure... That's why it's still with Aichi-kun."

" But why Aichi?"

" Light brings out the best of its abilities... The real Takuto knew that and tried to warn us but... Link Joker got to him first and he couldn't relay the danger... That's why Link Joker wants to taint his light to darkness... That ancient Psyqualia will easily fall into Link Joker's hands if Aichi's light is tainted..."

" Is that all?"

" I removed that crown he had before we arrived so that Aichi won't get controlled again... If there's anything else, we need the real Takuto to tell us..."

Just as he said it, the door opened as they got on the defensive and when Leon, Jillian and Sharlene stepped in, they heaved a sigh of relief before going back to their original positions.

" Hey, Leon. What's with the mirror?"

" We overheard just as we were arriving here. I have the real Takuto with me."

" Where?!"

" In here." Jillian said

" The mirror?"

" Right now, Takuto's soul is trapped in Cray by Link Joker. His only way of communicating with us was by Psyqualia through the mirror. But only people with Psyqualia can see and hear him."

" Is he here now? We need to know."

" Yeah."

Leon turned to the mirror and nodded as he slowly turned to Aichi. A glow surrounded Aichi after that.

" Don't worry. Takuto's scanning his memories for something."

" His memories?"

" We will show you what I mean by taking a look into Sendou's memories. It's the start for now."

Leon turned towards Aichi's direction and nodded.

" It's starting."

They were immediately in a black space with a single image in front of them.

" Is that..."

" ... Aichi as a baby?"

" Earlier you theorized that Psyqualia was given to Sendou two years ago but that's not true."

" Huh?!"

" Look closely."

While watching Shizuka carrying the baby Aichi, a swirl of energy was seen entering him for a split second as baby Aichi suddenly started wailing.

" No way..."

" Brother Aichi already has Psyqualia as a baby?!"

" That's right. The ancient Psyqualia had already bestowed its powers to him from the day he was born. And you know what that means."

" It predicted this far into the future... And already clinged itself onto Aichi's light!" Kai exclaimed

" Why?!"

" Because it knows his great involvement in all of this and his past life."

" His past life?"

" To know that, we're going to look at something beyond his current memories."

The scene quickly changed as Naoki and the others immediately recognized the image.

" This is... Cray!"

" Cray?!"

" Well, we never really played the game much, so the image of Cray is still quite a blur." Kirito said

" True."

" Why is Cray in the memories beyond Aichi's current one?"

" Right now, we're looking at what Sendou sees in the past. Why he is there will be told soon."

The image started moving as a temple was shown in the distance.

" A temple?"

Hands opened the door to the temple as a giant unit waited further ahead as the image continued moving towards it.

 _" So you have finally arrived. I am very pleased to meet you again, Prince."_ The unit said

The others gasped at the sentence.

" P-Prince?!"

 _" You have grown tremendously, just as your warriors relay to me. And they've also told me of your problem. I am truly saddened for your loss in the war but won't you say a few words?"_

The image seems to shake a little as the unit sighed.

" His loss in the war?"

" You've heard correctly. Sendou's previous life was as the Prince of Cray. And as you've heard, he actually lost his parents, the King and Queen, to a war with Void."

" Void?!"

" Due to that loss, Sendou was traumatised and stopped talking altogether. The castle warriors sought help in the Messiah Temple you see here. That unit you see there is just an astral form of a unit called 'Harmonics Messiah'. When Sendou was young as the Prince, he visited the unit plenty of times."

" What did Void do that time?!"

" Sendou has a power it seeks and once it found out, it started to invade the planet. They fought it off but in its last struggle to try to claim him before getting banished the first time, it killed his parents right in front of his eyes."

" Such cruelty..."

" Well, let's just keep watching."

They nodded and continued watching on as they were now in a room with a glass case on top of a pillar with something sitting in it.

 _" This is a memento from your parents. I kept it for you for their sakes because they wanted to make sure that there was someone who understood you like they do to relay this to you should anything happen to them. It holds the key to unlocking your true powers."_

A crystal pendant was seen being tied around the past Aichi's neck as the image looked back up at the unit again.

 _" You'll find out the true meaning soon but for now... Always keep it with you."_

The image nodded as they were back in the clubroom.

" That's all...?"

" Sorry. Takuto doesn't have enough energy to relay more images to you guys. He needs his original body if he needs to show you everything. For now, let him rest for awhile before we continue."

" Oh, right..."

Suddenly, there was a groan as they saw Aichi opening his eyes and getting up as Yui flew over to him.

" Yui-chan...?"

" Are you alright?"

" Yes..."

He looked around as he saw the others.

" Everyone... Why am I here...? Wasn't I...?"

" We escaped."

" Kai-kun...!"

" I guess I'll have to apologise for the trouble I caused, huh."

Aichi gripped his head as Kai held onto him before he could collapse.

" What's wrong?"

" No... It's nothing... I thought I just saw a weird image... That's all..."

He leaned onto Kai as he slept again while Kai sighed.

" You're sleeping again?"

He laid Aichi back down on the floor after that.

" Weird image? Is it possible that he saw what we saw?"

" Maybe, considering that we forced all those past memories out. He might've seen it by accident."

" But the question is... Where is the crystal pendant that the unit gave him?"

" It looks familiar though..."

" Kai?"

" I can't put my finger on it... But that pendant looks so familiar..."

" You've seen it before somewhere?" Klein ask

" I can't remember..."

" We need to know more. We need Takuto to show us more of those memories. Otherwise, we can't figure out many things."

" But the problem is... There's low and even high level dungeon monsters wandering around here... We can't keep disappearing to check out Aichi's memories."

" That's not much of Link Joker's problem, actually. Those dungeon monsters aren't under their control, only those boss monsters are."

" Huh?! Then they'll keep coming?!"

" I think so. Unless we defeat all of the boss monsters, those dungeon monsters won't disappear that easily."

" No way..."

" Let's rethink our plan. Link Joker will counterattack soon and we need to make sure nothing happens to Aichi until then." Kirito said

" Yeah!"

* * *

Meanwhile, at the Tatsunagi Corporation, Reversed Takuto was still watching the monitors as he heard a bellowing sound.

" So you're here, Void-sama."

" You said you have him. Where is he?"

" Unfortunately, Toshiki Kai got him out. He even removed the headpiece."

" You had Toshiki Kai in your hands. How did he even manage to get out of the temptation of Reverse?"

" That can be saved for another time. Don't worry. I had foreseen this and laid a tracker on Aichi Sendou. They're currently at Miyaji High. I'll send in the Reverse Army soon to attack it and retrieve him. So just be a little more patient, Void-sama."

" This is the final chance. If this fails, I'll take things to my own hands."

" Yes. And one more thing... I found a very interesting memory from the ones who'd fallen into this world."

The screen changed as Void seemed to think about it a little.

" What good will this do?"

" If I recreate it, I'm sure a very interesting effect will come into place. I just need a little more time to copy it."

" Alright then. Go on ahead. I'll be waiting for that prince to fall into my hands."

" Yes, I'll do it at once."

Void disappeared after that as Reversed Takuto continued his work.

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in the next chapter!


	4. Chapter 4

Hello everyone! I'm back with a new chapter! Chapter 4! I hope everyone will enjoy this chapter and without further ado, let's start!

Normal POV

In Miyaji High, Kai went back to rest beside Aichi while Kirito and the others continued to discuss a few things.

" We need to head back to our world first to solve a few problems by ourselves. There might be clues there too. That might be why we came here."

" While we do that, we'll be counting on you guys to protect Aichi-kun."

" We'll do our best! Aichi's our friend after all!"

" Yui. Stay with them and if needed, give Kai and Aichi their avatar programs."

" Yes, Papa!"

Kirito turned to the others and nodded as they logged out. Naoki and the others just waited for Aichi and Kai to wake up after that.

" Sitting around here won't help much. Let's train and make sure we can protect Sendou from the Reversed fighters."

" Yeah!"

Yui just watched their training while Aichi suddenly started to wake up. Yui flew to him after that as Aichi started to get used to his surroundings.

" Are you alright?" Yui ask

" Yes..."

" Do you want to rest more? You still look a little tired."

" No, I'm fine now... Thank you for your concern, Yui-chan..."

" Papa did leave your care to us, so no problem."

" Yeah... The others are really training hard..."

" Yes. They want to protect you with their best abilities after all."

" I'm really grateful and at the same time, happy that they're safe..."

" Yeah."

" Is Kai-kun alright?"

" He's just resting again. He did complain about a huge headache when he arrived."

" I see..."

Aichi patted Kai's head gently as Kai opened his eyes at the touch.

" You're awake..."

" Aichi..."

Kai got up as well as he saw the others cardfighting.

" Everyone's training... How are you feeling?"

" I'm fine. What about you?"

" I'm also fine... I just feel a little weak..."

" I'm sorry. It's my fault."

" No, it's fine... I'm just glad you came back..."

" Yeah. Maybe you should rest more. You don't sound so well."

" I'm really fine... It's just that my energy's drained so much from what happened... Don't worry... I'll be fine..."

" Alright then."

" If you're really that concerned... Yui-chan..."

" Yes?"

" Activate the program... That way, my body can rest a little while longer..."

" But it's like using an Amusphere... Your brain functions will still be active."

" If my body can continue to not waste energy on talking like this, then it's fine... Just activate it..."

" Alright then."

She took out the orb as Aichi turned into his ALO form.

" That feels better."

" You're really alright now?"

" Yeah."

" Now that I think about it, I've never tried that program before, right?"

" I have yours here right now."

" Can I use it for a little while?"

" Sure!"

She activated Kai's program as well as Kai looked at his outfit.

" Black, huh..."

" But he did add a little red to it so it's not a big problem, right?"

" Papa was really troubled for your avatar, Kai-san. He didn't know whether a Spriggan or Salamander would suit your character better, so he just went with a Spriggan."

" What are Spriggans good at?"

" Uh... Illusions and Treasure Hunting."

" That's all, huh... Then Salamander is..."

" Fire based attacks."

" I'd rather have that."

" Don't complain, Kai-kun. Kirito-san worked hard on the avatar so don't be picky right now."

" I know, I know... Could you teach every spells you know?"

" Me too. I only learned the basic healing spell after all."

" Roger! And don't worry, Kai-san. You can learn fire based Sword Skills from the new patch that was introduced."

" Alright then."

The others finished their fights as they finally spotted Aichi and Kai.

" Woah! Now that I look at it up close, you two look so cool!"

" I still need to get used to this light feeling though..."

" I wasn't really that used to it at first but it worked out after awhile."

" Both of your avatars are Power and Speed based. It's almost the same as Mama and Papa's avatar."

" Almost the same, huh..."

" And because Undine and Spriggan are one of the lightest races in ALO, they can do a Wall Run."

" W-Wall Run? You mean running on walls?"

" Yes but it won't last long. Just a few meters before you fall, however it proves to be effective when you battle."

" I see..."

" That's so cool!" Naoki exclaimed

" First, I'll teach Kai-san a basic spell that Spriggans specializes in."

She turned off the lights as she taught Kai the words and the room lit up a little.

" Night Vision Magic?"

" Yes. Because of Link Joker, outside is so dark that you need lights to keep the place bright but in a situation without lights, you can use this magic."

" I see. Although, can we learn flying first? It'll be much more easier for me to use magic in the air too."

" Got it! Come outside."

Aichi's wings appeared as he flew out of the window first as Kai jumped down from the window.

" That was dangerous, Kai-kun!"

" Come on, it's only going to lower my HP, nothing else."

" Yes but that was really reckless. Don't do that again."

" Alright. So, Yui... How do you fly?"

Aichi and Yui explained the steps as Kai managed to flap his wings a little. He breathed out again while trying again when he suddenly shot up into the sky after a strong flap.

" K-Kai-kun!"

Aichi flew up to the clouds as he looked around.

" It feels like Deja Vu..."

" What's Deja Vu?"

" Well, Yui-chan... It's that feeling where you felt a certain event has happened before is happening again... But that's not the right time... Kai-kun?!"

" Kai-san!"

They finally found Kai as they started to teach Kai on controlling his wings as he sighed in relief.

" Finally..."

" Then let's fly around the school for a few rounds."

" Are you trying to race me?"

" If you want to think that... It's just training after all."

" You're on."

Both started to fly around the school while accelerating slowly as both looked at each other after Kai caught up after a few rounds.

" Let's head back to the clubroom to rest after this round!"

" Sure!"

They were arriving back at the clubroom when Aichi remembered something.

" Um, Kai-kun... Do you know how to land?"

" ... I don't."

" Uh... Oh no... It's too late... Good luck."

Aichi stopped his wings to slowly land as Kai crashed into the clubroom wall. He fell flat on his back after that as Aichi ran to him.

" K-Kai-kun!"

" That was cruel, Aichi..."

" I'm sorry... I'll heal you up, okay?"

Aichi put out his hand as he healed Kai and he slowly got up.

" Talk about a crash landing." Naoki said

" Shut up. Next time, teach me how to land first before making me fly so quickly."

" I'm sorry..."

" Yui, we can proceed with other spells now."

" Leave it to me!"

But before they could proceed to any more spells, Leon sensed the wind and looked out the window.

" Oh no..."

" Leon?"

" There's a Reverse Army coming in."

" What?!"

" They must be after Sendou."

" Not on our watch! Come on! Let's give them a piece of our minds!"

" Yeah!"

" I'll go too!"

" No, Aichi! If you go, they'll likely come after you after blocking the others! You've got to hide!"

" But..."

" Kai, we'll leave Aichi to you! We'll go to delay the Reversed fighters! Just in case they make it past us, make sure you hide Aichi!"

" Yeah!"

The others ran outside as Kai held onto Aichi's arm.

" Everyone!"

" No, Aichi! Come on! We need to find a place to hide you in!"

" But..."

Kai pulled Aichi to a cupboard as he opened it and let Aichi settle inside.

" I'll let you out after the situation is settled, alright? Just be good and stay quiet inside. Yui, I'll leave him to you."

" Yes! Leave it to me!"

Kai nodded as he closed the cupboard doors. Aichi peeked out a little through the crack on the door.

" Kai-kun..."

Kai logged out of his program as he kept the orb into his pocket. As he had anticipated, Reversed fighters came running into the room as he took out his deck.

" Come at me! I'm not letting you guys touch Aichi!"

And the numerous fights began as Aichi and Yui continued watching from the cupboard.

" Kai-kun..."

Suddenly, his head started to hurt as he winced.

" Aichi-san?!"

" My head... Suddenly..."

He turned back to normal as he held his head while holding in screams.

 _" Remember your past. Remember why you came here. Remember your promise and that memento."_ A voice said

 _" What...?! What am I supposed to remember...?!"_ Aichi thought

Somebody shook him as he snapped opened his eyes to see Kai with worry in his eyes.

" Kai... kun...?"

" What's wrong?! Is your head hurting?!"

" The Reversed fighters..."

" I dealt with them already. Other than that, are you really okay?"

" Yeah..."

Aichi held Kai's hand as he laid on his chest.

" I'm just tired... Let me... rest a little..."

" Alright. Sleep tight, Aichi. Have a nice rest."

" Yeah..."

Aichi closed his eyes as he soon drifted off to sleep. Kai released Aichi's hand as he wrapped both his arms around him and adjusted so that Aichi would be more comfortable. He sat down while leaning on the wall as he settled Aichi on his lap.

" The others are still fighting outside?"

" Yes, it seems so."

" I see. When will Kirito and the others be back?"

" In about two hours or so."

" I see. Yui."

" Yes?"

" I'll tell you the address of my apartment. Search my bedside drawer for something that looks like a crystal pendant."

" A crystal pendant?"

" I have to know... Whether it's the same pendant we saw in Aichi's past or not... If it is, I need to know the relation of it with Aichi, so please."

" Yes, please leave it to me. I'll be back as soon as possible."

" Please."

Kai told his address as Yui flew off to find what he was looking for.

* * *

Meanwhile, Reversed Takuto was watching what was happening as he clicked his tongue.

" Those useless Reversed fighters... Can't even do a simple task."

He checked on what he was doing as he typed in a few more data. Void appeared behind him in a more solid human form.

" Void-sama."

" Your last chance is over. I see that those incompetent humans can't even complete the simple task of capturing the Prince."

" Yes, even though it's such a perfect chance when his powers haven't come back yet. I reckon you want to proceed with taking this into your own hands?"

" Yeah. I don't require backup. Toshiki Kai alone can't stop me from what I desire. This time, I won't fail."

Void disappeared after that.

* * *

At Miyaji High, the Reversed fighters that gathered at the school gate were still being defeated one by one by Misaki and the others as they panted.

" Damn it! How much longer before they give up?!"

" I don't know! But we can't let them keep going in! We need to protect Aichi with all we've got!"

" Yeah! No way am I going to let them touch Aichi!"

" Then let's continue our fight!"

" Yeah!"

At the clubroom, Kai was still taking care of Aichi while caressing his cheek gently as he frowned in worry.

 _" I sure hope his constant sleeping is doing good to him... I'd be worried if it isn't..."_ Kai thought

Suddenly, he sensed a dark presence as he looked up and scanned the whole clubroom.

" Who's there?!"

Black mist suddenly scooped Aichi out of his arms as he gasped.

" Aichi!"

Kai stood up as Void materialised and took Aichi from the black mist into his arms. He wrapped one arm around Aichi's shoulder to support him while the other shot out black mist to stop Kai's approach.

" Who are you?! Give Aichi back!"

" You've sensed my presence before, Toshiki Kai. Don't tell me you've forgotten."

" No, it can't be... You're... Void?!"

" Correct. I'm really thankful you've been taking care of Aichi this whole time. But now, it's time for you to be relieved of that role. I'm going to be his caretaker from now on."

" As if I'll let you!"

" What can you do? You're powerless. There's nothing you can do to defeat my power."

" I'm warning you, Void. Give Aichi back."

" What if I don't? Now that you already had your own fun, it's my turn to have fun with Aichi."

He laid his hand on Aichi's cheek and trailed his fingers from Aichi's cheek to his lips as Aichi's face scrunched in discomfort.

" Don't you dare!"

" I dare more than you ever will, Toshiki Kai. I am not human after all. My thoughts are all evil and of course, if I'm going to be a ruler, I should have a cute little queen by my side."

" Aichi won't succumb to you and your desires!"

" It doesn't matter. I can just lock him up in a cage and he'll be both my queen and my little playtoy. Of course, he has no say in anything. No freedom, just my eternal love. If he wants out, all he has to do is accept to become mine."

" I won't let that happen!"

Kai took out the orb as he turned into his New ALO avatar.

" Interesting. A power from that other world?"

" I will protect Aichi, no matter what!"

Aichi groaned as he woke up. Once he opened his eyes, he gasped the moment he saw Void as he tried to escape his arms, only to be wrapped tightly in his grip.

" Let me go!"

" Oh? You seem to recognise me the moment you laid your eyes on me."

" Aichi!"

Shadow minions formed to stop Kai's advance as he unsheathed his sword to fight.

" Kai-kun!"

" Now, now. Look over here. Very soon, I'll make you forget about him and focus on only me. That's right. I'll make those eyes of yours be mine and only mine. It'll lay on me and only me."

" No!"

Aichi struggled as Void grabbed his chin and leaned in to kiss him. Aichi continued to struggle as Kai slashed the minions away as they regenerated back again.

" Damn it! Aichi!"

Void broke the kiss as Aichi managed to free one of his arms from Void's grip and he reached out for Kai.

" Kai-kun! Kai-kun!"

" No, Aichi. You don't need him. I'll take good care of you from now on."

Void held Aichi's outstretched hand as he gripped it and Aichi's clothes started to change.

" Become my queen of darkness, Aichi. And the two of us will rule the entire universe."

" Aichi!"

Long fingerless gloves appeared first as Aichi's eyes widened.

" No..."

Slowly, black mist travelled around his whole body and slowly changed his clothes.

" No..."

" Aichi!"

" Kai-san!"

They turned to see Yui flying over with a crystal pendant in her hands as it started to glow.

" N-NO!"

The pendant shone brightly as they shielded their eyes while Aichi's clothes stopped changing and the minions disappeared. Void released Aichi by accident as Kai ran over to catch him. Aichi gripped Kai's clothes while his clothes turned back to normal as he shook and cried.

" Kai-kun... Kai-kun..."

" It's alright now. I'm here. Don't be afraid."

The glow slowly faded as Void clicked his tongue.

" Mark my words! I'll be back!"

He disappeared after that as the glow completely faded and Yui set the pendant down carefully on the table.

" Aichi, it's alright now. He's gone."

" I'm scared...! I'm scared...!"

" It's alright. I'm here. Don't worry."

After a few more minutes of comforting, Aichi finally stopped crying as Kai wiped off his tears while turning back to normal.

" It's fine. Void's gone."

Aichi's gripped tightened a little as Kai took notice of the pendant.

" Yui, could you give that to me?"

" Sure."

Yui picked up the pendant and flew to give it to Kai as he thanked Yui before handing it to Aichi. Aichi's grip loosened a little as he carefully took the pendant. The pendant emitted a gentle glow as Aichi relaxed and fell asleep on Kai's chest again.

" He fell asleep again."

" It's fine. It's better this way."

The door slid opened as Misaki and the others came back in.

" Kai, how's Aichi?"

" Void came but this pendant warded him away and protected Aichi before Void could do anything to him."

" I see."

" Where did you get that pendant?"

" Well... Remember I said it looked familiar when we looked at Aichi's past memories? When I thought about it, I remembered my parents giving it to me. They said something weird like, the pendant was with me when I was born or something. So I asked Yui to find and give it to me."

" Is that so?"

" Aichi's safe now, so it's fine. He's just a little scared but he'll be fine once he wakes up."

" Hope so..."

The others headed off to rest a little after the endless fights as Kirito and the others came back after two hours.

" Papa! Mama!"

" Yui, what happened here?"

" A battlefield... The Reversed Army came and they've been fighting them off. Not only that, Void came back and tried to capture Aichi-san."

" Where is he?!"

" Over there. Kai-san didn't want to let him go so he stayed like that to rest."

" I see..."

" Oh, he's waking up."

Aichi started to open his eyes as he scanned the room a little before laying his eyes on Kirito and the others. Asuna carefully approached him as she squatted down next to him.

" Are you alright?"

Aichi moved away a little as the pendant in his hands glowed purple.

" That pendant is..."

Kai groaned as he opened his eyes and looked at Aichi immediately.

" Something wrong, Aichi?"

" Kai, that pendant Aichi has in his hands..."

" I found it at my place. It seems that the memento my parents left for me, was something related to what's happening with Aichi."

" Aichi-kun, why was that pendant glowing?"

Aichi just flinched as the pendant glowed purple again. Kai rubbed Aichi's shoulder to let him relax as the glow stopped.

" Sorry, I think he's still a bit traumatised by what happened with Void."

" It's not gonna be easy to make him talk again, is it?" Kirito ask

" I think so."

Aichi stared at them as the pendant glowed yellow.

" They have elf ears because they're in their ALO forms, remember?"

" Kai, you can actually understand?"

" Now that you said it... Weird. No one can hear what he's saying?"

" All we see is the pendant glowing."

" Could it be... Aichi's talking to you in your heart?"

" My heart?"

Kai looked at Aichi as Aichi looked up at him. He managed a small smile as the pendant glowed pink.

" I knew it... That pendant's colour is symbolizing his current emotion. Naturally, if he'd felt traumatised like you said, it's normal that he clung onto you for safety. He recognises you as someone who would protect him no matter what. However, when he saw us, he felt uneasy and afraid again. So the pendant glowed purple to show fear and naturally, your heart reacted and you acted based on the colour. Then, when he got curious, his pendant glowed yellow and you could hear his thoughts. Basically, you're his translator."

" Is that it, Aichi?"

Aichi blinked as the pendant glowed orange.

" So I'm right. Why don't you talk? Right now, you sound as if you don't remember much. Is something wrong?"

" Wait, in his past memories that we saw... He had also lost his voice due to being traumatised by Void. It might be the same this time too. Because he got traumatised by Void again, he chose to not converse anymore because he's afraid and that he needs you by his side no matter what."

" But what about that past memory? I'm sure there's also someone he's done this to."

" We need the real Takuto to tell us. Only he can relay Aichi's past memories for us to see."

" You're right."

Aichi blinked again as his Psyqualia activated and they were drawn into a black space.

" This is..."

" Aichi, did you do this?"

Aichi looked over to the mirror as they turned as well to see it glowing.

" He must've called Takuto out!"

" But then..."

Aichi closed his eyes as Kai checked on him.

" He's asleep again..."

" Seriously...?"

" Look!"

They turned to see a light as they were shown a different image. This time, they were able to see the past Aichi and it was in a throne room as a guard kneeled down before him.

 _" Your Highness. The Prince from the Dragon Empire is here to see you."_

The past Aichi seemed to blink in confusion as the guard stepped out and another prince stepped in and the others gasped.

" That's... Kai?!"

" What are you doing there?!"

" I don't know!"

The past Kai bowed before quickly lifting up his head.

 _" Greetings. I am Prince Toshiki from the Dragon Empire. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Your Highness."_

The past Aichi stood up as he walked over to the past Kai to return the bow.

 _" So it is true. You have lost your voice. I've been assigned to take care of you from now on, Your Highness. I hope we can get along."_

The past Aichi shook his head as he seemed to not want the past Kai to trouble himself.

 _" It's fine. You're the Prince of Cray while I'm just a mere prince of a Nation. It is still our duty to serve you as you are the major ruler of our planet. Please ease on your troubles. I have reliable servants to take care of my Nation, so don't worry."_

The past Aichi gave out a silent sigh as he nodded. The scene changed as it now show the past Aichi and Kai walking in the flower garden.

 _" How do you like the garden, Your Highness?"_

The past Aichi nodded happily as the past Kai carefully plucked off a flower and placed it on the past Aichi's hair. The past Aichi blinked as he turned to the past Kai and the past Kai blushed and turned his head away once he realised what he did.

 _" I'm sorry... I don't know what I was thinking. P-Pretend this never happened."_

He turned to walk away when the past Aichi grabbed the back of his coat while looking down as the pendant glowed slightly pink.

 _" To... shi... ki..."_

" He talked!"

 _" Your Highness, did you just..."_

The past Aichi blushed as he ran back to his room and left the past Kai at the garden. The scene changed again as they now see the past Kai in the Messiah Temple.

 _" I never really understood why you assigned me to the castle but now..."_

 _" Prince Toshiki, there are many reasons for things that happen. You are the same as him after all. You both lost your parents but you were stronger to endure the pain but because of that strength, you lost a very important emotion. Prince Aichi, on the other hand, didn't endure the pain but kept his emotions. He was just traumatised and lost his voice to the pain. Both of you needed healing and that's why I asked you to be his caretaker. And I never regretted it one bit. You've finally regained your lost emotion so pour it out to him."_

 _" But I..."_

 _" In love, there are no barriers. If you really have that feeling to him, just let him know. Keeping it in is not healthy either."_

 _" Alright..."_

Suddenly, there were rumbles as the past Kai ran back to the castle to see black mist attacking it.

" Void!"

 _" The Prince!"_

The past Kai ran towards a room as he slammed open the door.

 _" Your Highness!"_

He gasped when he saw Void taking hold of the past Aichi in the grip of black mist as he unsheathed his sword to attack Void while releasing the past Aichi from the black mist.

 _" If it isn't Prince Toshiki from the Dragon Empire... I did heard that you came here to take care of the Prince but I didn't think it was true. Tell you what, I'll spare this entire planet if you hand him over. His parents gave me a hard time but I'll compromise just this once if you cooperate."_

 _" No! I won't let you have him!"_

 _" That's too bad then. Looks like you'll have to go."_

Suddenly, a large sword went through the past Kai's chest as he spilled out blood from his mouth.

 _" Wha...?"_

 _" You could've lived if you'd cooperated but it's too bad. You can join your own parents now."_

The sword was removed as the past Kai collapsed while the past Aichi tried to shake him awake.

 _" Now, Prince Aichi. If you don't want anymore casualties, you must come with me or I'll continue to kill all of the people in this castle."_

The past Aichi gripped the pendant as he removed it and wore it around the past Kai's neck. Touching the pendant, it glowed a bright light as the past Kai's wound started to heal.

 _" What?!"_

Once the wound completely healed, the past Kai opened his eyes again as the past Aichi smiled.

 _" Impossible!"_

" He revived him!" Kirito exclaimed

The past Kai slowly got up as he looked over to the past Aichi.

 _" Your Highness... Did you...?"_

The past Kai caught the past Aichi just as he was collapsing as the past Aichi opened his eyes weakly while smiling again.

 _" Your Highness?!"_

 _" Life... Resonating... Within..."_

 _" Your Highness, what did you do?!"_

 _" It's... my... turn... To... Protect... Toshiki..."_

A faint glow started to surround the past Aichi as he slowly started to disappear.

 _" Your Highness..."_

 _" I'll... be... inside... here... protecting... Toshiki..."_

The past Aichi pointed to the past Kai's chest.

 _" ... Forever..."_

 _" Your Highne-! Aichi!"_

The past Aichi completely disappeared as Void and the past Kai just froze for a few moments. Black mist started to surround them as Void clenched his fist.

 _" Prince Toshiki... This is all your fault! I had my chance to get that Prince but you... You ruined it all!"_

The pendant glowed just as the black mist was about to attack again. The blinding light caused Void to retreat as the past Kai continued to freeze in his spot. He slowly opened his hand as he saw the flower from when he'd placed on the past Aichi, an aster flower...

 _" AICHI!"_

The scene changed again as it now showed the past Kai in the Messiah Temple.

 _" Please, Harmonics Messiah!"_

 _" I'm sorry. A soul cannot be returned if both it and its body disappears. He exchanged his life for yours. It's foolish, yes, but it shows that he carried the same emotion as you, with that flower as his last reminder."_

 _" A soul reincarnates, doesn't it? I want to go where his soul is going! I'm going to follow him and protect him no matter what!"_

 _" But if you really do wish to reincarnate with him, your current memories will disappear."_

 _" I don't care! I just want to be with him again! I still haven't say my answer! I'm going to see him again and say it! Please!"_

 _" ... Alright. Leave Cray to me for now. Once you go through this portal, you will get what you desire and should you or him remember one day, the time to make decisions will draw near."_

 _" I understand."_

The portal opened as Kai placed the flower on a podium. He stood in front of the portal as he looked at the pendant Aichi wore on him.

 _" Wait for me... I'm going to be you soon, Aichi..."_

He stepped into the portal after that as the dark space was gone and they were back in the clubroom.

" So then..."

" Both Aichi and Kai are..."

" Don't look at me like that. I don't understand anything either."

" But the pendant was with you when you were born, there's no doubt about that."

" I know but... It's just confusing. I need to think about it a little... Tell the others once they wake up. I think I need to rest again."

" Yeah, just take a short break. We'll handle the rest from here."

" Yeah..."

Kirito and the others went out to check on the school as Kai slowly drifted back to sleep while gripped onto Aichi.

* * *

And that's the end of this chapter! Thank you for reading! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and I'll see everyone in this chapter!


End file.
